“I think that haunts him to this day,” said his sister, San Antonio resident Emalie Humphreys.

Not to worry. Sam Humphreys isn't looking back. He has moved past last year's experience and focused his attention squarely on the first summer of his professional career.

“I'm excited about it, now that I can actually make some money,” the recently crowned NCAA champion from Texas A&M said. “That's always nice. But it feels weird not being able to compete for a team goal. Now, it's just competing for yourself.

More Information

At a glance

What: USA Outdoor Track

and Field Championships

When: Thursday-Sunday

Where: Drake Stadium,

Des Moines, Iowa

Sam Humphreys

Event: Javelin

Age: 22

Size: 6-foot-7, 260 pounds

Fast facts: Completed his

eligibility for Texas A&M by

winning the NCAA javelin

championship June 8. ... Will carry a No. 1 national ranking into the USA meet. His event scheduled for Sunday. ... Attended Laredo Alexander High School.

Local connection: Humphreys' mother and sister live in San Antonio. His sister, Emalie Humphreys, is a former NCAA meet competitor for A&M in the javelin. She teaches and coaches at Whittier Middle School.

“It's something that I've got to get used to. But I'm looking forward to it.”

First up for the 6-foot-7, 260-pounder is the four-day, USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which open Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Humphreys, who grew up in Laredo, has owned the No. 1 ranking in the nation — professional or collegians — since March.

In the past month, he has swept to victories at the Southeastern Conference meet, the NCAA West preliminaries and the NCAA championships.

His school record of 268 feet, 8 inches, set at the West preliminaries in Austin, leads the nation going into the USA meet.

Two weeks ago, he won his first NCAA title, throwing into a headwind at Eugene, Ore.

Everyone in the javelin field struggled, including Humphreys, the A&M senior whose best throw measured 255-9.

“It's like any event at the NCAA championships. It's about winning,” Texas A&M coach Pat Henry said. “You'd like to have great performances on those days, and you'd like to have the conditions for those performances, but it's still about lining up and beating people.”

Humphreys' title came with a twist.

Years ago, he learned the javelin as a youth on his own time, with the help of a club coach, outside the realm of high school sports.

“We don't throw the javelin in Texas high school athletics,” Henry said. “He picked it up (in summer track). He had a coach in Laredo that really helped him. His coach helped him see that he could be successful at it.”

The coach was Alex De Luna, who ran the Club Olympia program. De Luna coached Emalie and Sam Humphreys, and both athletes went on to forge standout careers at A&M under throws coach Juan De La Garza.

While growing up in Laredo, Emalie Humphreys soared to the top of the AAU youth javelin rankings faster than her younger brother, at least initially.

If De Luna planted the seeds, De La Garza has worked to help Humphreys blossom into one of the top throwers around.

Last year, Humphreys beat all the top talent in the nation at the Trials.

He threw 268-7 to win, but because he didn't reach the “A” standard of 269 feet, he didn't get to make the trip to the Olympic Games.

“I was kind up upset for missing it by that much,” Humphreys said. “But I couldn't complain. It was still a win in probably the biggest meet I've been in.”

De La Garza said Humphreys has been able to win his two biggest meets of the past year — the Trials and the NCAAs — because of the time he has put into his training and because of consistency in technique.

“If he's healthy and he feels good, then he knows something good is going to happen, because he's so consistent with his form,” De La Garza said.

De La Garza said the next few years will be special as he works with Humphreys in his quest to reach the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Athletes like him don't come along very often,” De La Garza said. “It'll be a long time before we see another one like that.”

Humphreys doesn't deny that the Trials will serve as a motivation in the next few years.

But he said it's not necessarily because he came up short of the Summer Games. It's because he learned that he could compete with the best.

“Throwing like I did last year, it just gave me the motivation that I could actually do it,” he said.